California City - city in Kern County, California, United States

California City is a town of 14,000 people in Antelope Valley, southern California.

Understand

Location

California City is in the Mojave Desert north of Los Angeles.

History

California City was a master-planned city in the desert. More than 200 square miles of the desert were covered by roads for a city intended to rival Los Angeles. However, people did not move into the area in large numbers until the 21st century. The city is now slowly growing in population.

Get in

By car

California City Boulevard connects Route 14 to the city, so if you're on State Route 14, come off at the California City Boulevard turn-off.

Get around

Although the populated part of the town is compact, getting to the still-uninhabited outer regions of the town requires a car.

See

• Twenty Mule Team Parkway, 35.143856°, -117.914637°. From the road, you can see the numerous dirt tracks from the original construction, where houses were never built. It continues for several miles, so don't turn around until you've gone quite a long way. 2017-12-26
• Central Park, 10400 Heather Ave, 35.129276°, -117.945285°. The centerpiece of California City. There is also a lake in the park. 2017-12-26
• Desert Tortoise Research Natural Area, 35.170278°, -117.900278°. 2018-03-25

Do

• Tierra Del Sol Golf Course, 10300 N Loop Blvd, 35.132793°, -117.946252°, +1 760-373-2384. 2018-03-24

Buy

The Aspen Mall, the main shopping mall in town, has several restaurants and a grocery store.

Eat and drink

• Coyote Cafe, 7035 California City Blvd # B, 35.126292°, -118.001858°, +1 760-373-4115. 2018-03-24
• Tokyo Tuna Restaurant, 8116 California City Blvd #108, 35.125012°, -117.983451°. 2018-03-24

Sleep

Most of the hotels in the California City area are in Mojave.

• California City Best Western, 10386 California City Blvd (It is near the Central Park.), 35.125436°, -117.944365°, +1 760-373-1369. 2018-03-24

Go next

• Death Valley – low-lying desert region to north of California City, with some of the hottest-ever temperatures ever recorded
• Barstow – town in the Mojave Desert
• Lancaster – town similar to California City, but closer to Los Angeles
• Bakersfield – large city in the Central Valley to the west